SP Seminar -- Chen Luo

Thursday, February 12th
12:30pm to 1:30pm
Mackintosh-Corry, Room D-411
Queen's University

Chen Luo
MA Candidate
Department of Sociology

It is necessary for Chinese people to get entry visas to come to Canada. In the visa application process, applicants are required to submit documents about their life history and border-crossing intention to the Canadian government, so as to fit themselves into the already-set "legal migrant categories". However, the government officials' interpretation of these documents is to a large extent uncertain and leads to visa application results which are beyond the control of the visa applicants.

This research involves studying on the relevant immigration acts and (lack of) bilateral agreements as well as in-depth interviews with 10 Canadian visa applicants from China about their visa application experience. The research argues that the (in)securitization of migrants plays an proactive role in the visa mechanism, which presumes the unease across the border caused by migration. The discourse of (in)securitization not only legitimate the rights of the government to deal with the unease on the border, but also naturalizes its capacity of doing so. Furthermore, the documentation in the visa application process provides legal but manoeuvrable identification to the applicants. Despite the leeway for resistance, however, the symbolic authority of the government in this process forces the practices of visa application to bend in a required way.

Everyone welcome!